2 law professors legally analyze IRS's control over those who choose not to sign up for national health care - plus 2 more professionals from the American Enterprise Institute -- Ok, allegedly the IRS can't force you to pay the tax, BUT can the doctors/hospital refuse service, even in an emergency, if you don't give them an insurance card?

Is the Individual Mandate Really Mandatory?
By Jordan M. Barry and Bryan T. Camp
http://taxprof.typepad.com/files/135tn1633-1.pdf

"...Finally, we analyze how the PPACA specifically limits the IRS’s ability to collect the tax penalty and, in light of those limitations, the degree to which the individual mandate is truly mandatory in practice. We conclude that, at most, the IRS will generally be able to collect the tax penalty only from a resistant taxpayer
if she is entitled to refundable tax credits that exceed her net tax liability..."

[Jordan M. Barry is an associate professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, and Bryan T. Camp is the George H. Mahon Professor of Law at Texas Tech University School of Law.  This article examines the tax collection process to see how the IRS might enforce the individual mandate under the
healthcare reform law. It concludes that resistant taxpayers can generally be forced to pay the tax penalty only if they are entitled to receive refundable tax credits that exceed their net federal tax liability.
Copyright 2012 Jordan M. Barry and Bryan T. Camp. All rights reserved.]

If You Don’t Buy Insurance, Will You Really Pay the Tax?

By Joseph Antos and Michael R. Strain Tuesday, July 17, 2012

http://www.american.com/archive/2012/july/if-you-dont-buy-insurance-will-you-really-pay-the-tax/ 

"Finally, even if the IRS has determined that you owe the new tax, it has very limited ability to force you to pay it. Basically, the IRS has two options: To ask you for the money and to reduce the size of your tax refund. But the IRS cannot reduce your refund unless you overpay. Since taxpayers have great control over their withholding, a savvy taxpayer who does not want to buy insurance could easily work the system to ensure that the IRS could not hold back his refund to enforce the mandate tax. And half of American households do not owe any income tax to begin with, so good luck getting the money from them. In addition, with electronic filing, the IRS may have already sent you the full refund before they’ve figured out that you owe the ObamaCare tax. All in all, it could take years for the IRS to collect its money.

"This contrasts sharply with the way the IRS collects other taxes. To put it simply, the IRS gets the money it is owed because it has broad powers to enforce compliance. After all, there’s a reason we’re all scared of the IRS.

"To enforce tax compliance, the government can bring a lawsuit against you, but that option is generally reserved for the most serious tax evaders—not individuals who owe a $695 penalty. In contrast, the ObamaCare law says that anyone who does not have health insurance and fails to pay the tax cannot be criminally prosecuted or criminally penalized. There goes the government’s strongest weapon.

"Even those who do confess that they do not have insurance may not be liable for the new tax.

"What happens most of the time is very simple: If you refuse to pay your taxes, then the government takes your stuff. The government can take all the assets you currently have and assets you expect to receive in the future. For example, the money you have in your checking and savings accounts, your car, your boat, your retirement account, any rental income, and wages that have not been paid to you can be taken by the IRS in order to collect the money you owe. The IRS’s power is so strong that it holds third parties liable if they choose not to surrender property that the IRS demands. So your bank has to comply with the IRS.

"Not so if the tax you refuse to pay is the ObamaCare tax. Under ObamaCare, the IRS cannot seize any of your property to enforce the mandate penalty. The IRS cannot go after the money in your bank accounts, and it can’t sell your car. It can’t send you to jail, and it can’t touch your stuff..."

Obamacare Delayed Again Until 2015 For Individual Mandate, State Exchanges

Posted: July 7, 2013
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/835512/obamacare-delayed-until-2015-individual-mandate-state-exchanges/#yYkTOYtD4sDBQh8i.99